With the increased use of mobile devices, some users use second screen applications while watching television. The “second screen” is typically a mobile device, such as a smart phone or tablet computer, but may be any computing device, such as a laptop computer or desktop computer located near a television. The second screen application may provide additional information or interaction with a television program.
One difficulty for a second screen application is identifying what might be of interest to the user. For example, while watching a movie, what information about the movie would the user find useful or entertaining?
Some second screen applications predict the type of audience based on the TV program and the location of the viewer. For example, if the content is targeted to women who are older than 50, and a viewer is in a residential neighborhood, a second screen application can select a subset of topics that such an audience would like. However, this methodology is not precise enough. Another alternative is to conduct live polls related to the show, but this could be costly and relies on continuous invasive polling. In addition, it would be difficult to get information quickly enough.